Patent application hints at biometric sensor for iPhone

A recently published patent application details the use of embedded biometric …

Many of Apple's patent applications deal with improvements to existing products or technologies, but the company's patent filings also include a curveball every now and then. A newly published patent application is a good example, as it suggests Apple is looking into embedded biometric sensors for devices like the iPhone.

At this point, we're pretty sure that there's some kind of iPhone hardware update coming this summer, and the addition extra security measure is fairly plausible. The application notes that Apple doesn't want biometric or other types of authentication to require too many extra steps. In order to make things easier, Apple suggests hiding embedded biometric sensors in location where users already touch devices. In the case of the iPhone, one of the patent drawings shows a biometric sensor embedded in the display sensors beneath the area of the screen that is used to unlock the device. Drawings also show sensors embedded in a notebook trackpad and certain keyboard keys.

The patent application discusses a number of other authentication methods, including facial feature recognition and even retinal scanning, although those may not be coming any time soon. Until then, a number of non-biometric methods could be used to authenticate a user, such as passwords based on colors or shapes, vibration patterns, or movements detected by the accelerometer. These authentication methods could be used to restrict access to certain data, or to entire devices.